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Ball joint turning with nut
speedyxjs - 9/6/10 at 06:16 AM

Morning all!

I tried to remove the top balljoint nut on my Jag hubs jesterday so i could trial fit my wheel arch brackets but all that happens is the tapered section is turning with the nut. I have tried standing on the ball joint and getting my sister to undo it but that didnt work and even had my brother and my sister on it at one point (30st combined ) but that didnt work.

Is my only choice to get the hacsaw on it?

Paul TigerB6 - 9/6/10 at 06:23 AM

quote:
Originally posted by speedyxjs
Is my only choice to get the hacsaw on it?


No of course not...............you could use an angle grinder!!

Do you have a nut splitter??

MikeRJ - 9/6/10 at 06:34 AM

If you have a ratchet strap, (i.e. one of the things you use for strapping cars onto a trailer) you could wrap it around top and bottom wishbones as near to the balljoints as possible and carefully pull them together.

Or you could try tightening the nut first to see if you can seat the balljoint into the taper in the upright. If the threads are a little corroded often you can tighten but not loosen.

As a last resort prior to cutting the nut off, could you cut a slot in the end of the balljoint with e.g. a dremel and use a screwdriver to hold it still?

easisatman - 9/6/10 at 06:35 AM

have you tried putting a jack underneath the wheel and putting the whole weight of the car on it?
regards
Paul

dogwood - 9/6/10 at 06:35 AM

I had the same probs with my Transit drag links.
I tried putting weight on it as well,
Unsuccessfully.
I found the only thing that worked for me is to hammer the joint into the taper whilst undoing it.
I had great faith in my wife's hammering skills....
Bang and undo at the same time..
You're other option is to retighten it so it pulls the joint back into the tapper,
hopefully fixing it. then undo the nut

HTH David

adithorp - 9/6/10 at 06:50 AM

1. Use a lever on the wishbone to push it in. Far more force than just standing on it.
2. Tighten the nut to pull the taper back in. Then try again.
3. Work the nut back and forward with easing oil to free off. Don't try too much at once.
4. Apply heat (blow torch) to the nut (if it's a nylock) to melt the nylon.
5. Any combination of the above.
6. Last resort... cut/split the nut.

adrian

snakebelly - 9/6/10 at 06:50 AM

i 2nd the ratchet strap idea, used it myself and worked every time, if its the lower balljoint just use a jack to put some upward pressure from below.

l0rd - 9/6/10 at 08:15 AM

When i serviced my car in the garage, They used a pair of pliers between the stub axle and the ball joint while undoing it.

tegwin - 9/6/10 at 08:22 AM

Lifes to short.... get the grinder out!

mangogrooveworkshop - 9/6/10 at 08:46 AM

Re do it up then use your air gun to take the nut off. Hammer the side of the taper and out it will pop

BenB - 9/6/10 at 09:00 AM

All of the above, strapping it together works well as does jacking the car up to use the weight of the car to compress the tapers together.

Though to be honest the last time I had to do this I ended up splitting the nut. In the absense of a nut splitter I drilled some very small holes in a line down the nut then got out the cold chisel and ye big old hammer. Job done. If you do this obviously don't drill too far through the nut otherwise you'll go into the thread of the BJ and you'll have to get a new one....

speedyxjs - 9/6/10 at 05:13 PM

Thanks for the replys. Unfortunately i dont have an air gun (no room for compressor) but i hadnt thought about a nut splitter.

Cheers